Tag Archives: Bank of England

Money is a near-universal social institution. It evolved to support human cooperation and to control and coordinate the life of humankind. Like other core institutions, such as marriage and language, the forms that money takes may differ widely. The values and norms governing money’s use, and the practices associated with it, also vary widely. For…» Continue Reading

A leading economist has predicted that central banks will not remain independent much longer. His forecast was made at a Bank of England conference called to celebrate – yes – 20 years of independence. Guests included Mrs Theresa May, the Prime Minster. It was opened by the Governor, Mark Carney, who drew a different, but…» Continue Reading

If economics is likened to a religion it is easy to see how it may be viewed as dangerous. It may blind its devotees to the claims of competing world-views. If economists arrogantly claim that their special insight gives them the right to prescribe policy, it may provide spurious legitimacy for harmful actions. It may lead…» Continue Reading

Is there any comparable case of a great country voluntarily, without any need to do so, placing itself at the mercy of its historical adversaries? That is what the UK has done. Britain’s future is now at the disposal of the remaining countries of the European Union. After being weakened by the results of the…» Continue Reading

12 points: 1. Central bankers, who were by and large not responsible for supervision pre-crisis , immediately sought to pin the blame for it on regulators, diverting attention from monetary policies – stoking the credit boom, failing to sound the alarm for what they were responsible for, which often included a duty to monitor the…» Continue Reading

According to Adair Turner, Britain’s former chief financial regulator, the global financial crisis had one big cause: bad ideas. These are ideas that Turner disapproves of. The key proposition of his new book is simply stated: “banking systems left to themselves are bound to produce too much of the wrong sort of debt, instability and…» Continue Reading

The book argued that the crisis was the joint product of inflation targeting, irresponsible banking and a weak international monetary system. The book tried to show how these were inter-related: First, inflation targeting, which had been a valuable tool in combatting 1970s inflation, had by the 2000s outlived its usefulness as a guide and discipline for…» Continue Reading

In his contribution to Central Banking’s 25th anniversary issue, Andrew Haldane, chief economist of the Bank of England, describes the “giant steps” that central banks have taken to “reinvent” themselves post crisis. These have involved innovations not only in monetary policies and in market operations but also the development of macro-prudential policies. Central bankers…» Continue Reading

People know we haven’t cracked the problem. Anaemic, faltering growth has brought a sense of greater security and well-being only to those in work or those with assets like shares and city property that have floated up on the rising tide of central bank liquidity. Since 2007 vast disparities of wealth have become even…» Continue Reading